A good place to dig into Passover can be found here. There are plenty of great resources, but the most meaningful part to me about Passover is the offering at the end of the "watching" time: A spotless lamb.
The story of the Passover can be found in Exodus 12:1-30.
The first question in your mind may be Why did God need to resort to such a extreme measure? In our eyes, it does look inhumane and for a God who "loves" it seems rather out of character. I think we often misunderstand love, goodness, justice, and compassion, not to mention God's character and nature.
Love demands and compels change. Love doesn't look the other way when there is injustice. In this case, we forget how wicked Egypt, as a people, were. They had several gods they worshiped and if you remember the plagues God brought on the Egyptians and Pharaoh, each plague directly addressed each of their gods. Pharaoh had nine opportunities to let Israel go but refused each time. So, in some respects, God's compassion can manifest in ending situations where there is going to be no change.
The Plot to Kill Jesus
On to Wednesday, which is the Jewish calendar ends at sundown tonight, and Thursday begins (and as I write this, it's now officially Thursday in the Jewish calendar)All four gospels have varying emphasis, which is to be expected, due to the fact there were four different writers. Each of the writers had common themes but chose to emphasize some different parts of the plot to kill Jesus; all they needed was a willing hand.
Matthew 26:1-5, Mark 14:1-2, Luke 22:1-2, and John 11:47-53. I will point out something unique in each passage detailing the plot.
Matthew
Jesus plainly told his disciples this: “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.” Then the chief priests and the elders of the people met together in the palace of the high priest, (nice gig, eh?) who was named Caiaphas. They planned to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him"Mark
Two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the chief priests and the experts in the law were trying to find a way to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. But not during the feast so the people would not riot. (Ever the thoughtful leaders, always thinking of the people!)Luke
The chief priests and the experts in the law were trying to find some way to execute Jesus, for they were afraid of the people. The fear of man is a snare, no matter who it is. The leaders knew they did not have the people, all they had was their jealous rage and their own manufactured righteous indignation. They justified it in the name of God.We must maintain perspective we are acting as followers of God, not in place of God.
John
"So the chief priests and the Pharisees called the council together and said, “What are we doing? For this man is performing many miraculous signs. If we allow him to go on in this way, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away our sanctuary and our nation.”This last line dovetails quite nicely with what Luke wrote - they were afraid of losing their place. Put this in our context, many times we hold onto things we cannot keep and lose what we could have if we let go.
Judas and His Price
It has been said, every man has a price, and all that needs to be established is the amount. Once again, all four gospels have an account of this, and I will break it down as I did for the Plot to kill Jesus.
Matthew 26:14-16
Then one of the twelve, the one named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What will you give me to betray him into your hands?”
Judas didn't even have an idea of the value of his work, which is ironic, considering he was in charge of the money. He was easily bought, frustrated over the three years of hoping Jesus would establish a powerful presence on the civil & governmental front. Judas was practical, but in this moment, he sold himself for about 120 days of work today
Mark 14:10-11
When they heard this, they were delighted and promised to give him money. So Judas began looking for an opportunity to betray him.
I venture a guess here on their delight: Someone else to do what we want to do, and it's one of his own followers! To them, it probably lined up perfectly- they could get what they wanted, pay a small portion of money out of the treasury, and have their hands clean.
Luke 22:3-6
Luke is much more extensive in description of this event.
"Then Satan entered Judas, the one called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve." My thoughts here are about opportunity. The religious leaders looked for an opportunity. Judas, too, looked for an opportunity, and Satan looked for an opportunity. We can't be surprised by this, if we know human nature. The larger problem is not understanding the mission of Satan and his minions - 1 Peter 5:8 says what Satan delights to do.
As a side note, the purpose of the roar of the Lion is to paralyze other animals in fear; I'd imagine it works quite well with us, and maybe those who have been on safari can attest.
John 13:2;13:27;6:70-71
The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, that he should betray Jesus. And after Judas took the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.
Jesus is not surprised by our inclinations and our sin. He knew the purpose for which he came, and understood the tapestry being woven. But how much it must have hurt the human side of him! And Judas, in the fellowship of the King, submitted to the devil.
Here is another good lesson - no matter how rich our fellowship is with Jesus, our hearts are prone to wander. It doesn't take much, does it?
The next event of the night is the preparation of the passover meal, or the Last Supper. We can see that John covered not only the betrayal, but also the Last Supper.
Matthew, Mark, and Luke all detail in great extent another astounding work of Christ. They begin to make preparations for the Passover meal and ask Jesus what they should do. Jesus tells them to go into the city, look for man and he will have instructions for the last supper, along with accomodations.
We will pick that up tomorrow. Busy day tomorrow!
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